Assorting-machine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

S M. PARK.

ASSORTING MACHINE. N0. 25%,234. 8 Patelgsed Feb; 28,1882

l i v I El Cl (No Mode1.). 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. S. M. PARK.

ASSORTING MAGHINB..

Patented Feb. 28,1882.

a m ese 6 dyzWw/M =1. Washington. 0. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' SAMUEL M. PARK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

AS SORTING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 254,234, dated February 28, 1882,

Application filed December 31, 1881.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, SAMUEL M. PARK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Assorting-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the same, reference being bad to the accompanyin gdrawin gs, in which- 'Figure1 is a plan view of the machine. Fig. 2 is a-side elevation of the machine with a portion of the side frame broken away. Fig. 3 is a sectional view, showing a set of feedrolls and guides. Fig. 4 is a modified form of machine, shown in longitudinal section, and especially adapted to the assortment of bristles. Fig. 5 is a detail view of a roll with attached pulley, and showing the end of the roll set within the face of the supporting side frame.

My invention has for its object to rapidly and certainly separate a promiscuous lot of feathers, bristles, lath, pasteboard strips, or the like into distinct portions, each one of which will be composed of such feathers, bristles,

&c., as have approximately the same length,

so that in the end the heterogeneous mass will be subdivided into as many separate portions as there are lengths into which it is desired to assort the material.

My invention consists of certain improvements in a machine adapted to this end, the

structure and nature of which machine will be' hereinafter set forth, andmore particularly defined in claims.

Referring to Sheet 1 of the drawings, A A denote two rectangular frames, composed of side and end pieces securely fastened together, which frames are set one above the other, and are adjustably held in place by headed bolts to a, that pass through perforations in the two frames, and have set-nuts at their lower ends to vary the distance between the frames as desired. Washers b b, of rubber, leather, or the like, surround the bolts to at intermediate of the frames, and assist in efiecting an even adjustment of the frames to and from each other.

A series of rolls, B B, is set in each of the frames A A, the axles of the rolls bjeing mounted in suit-able bearin gs or bushings in theside (No model.)

ing rolls-or, in other words, of the rolls that i make up a setbeing intermeshed, so that the rolls of the set shall each have the same speed and direction of rotation as the other.. One series of the rolls on the ends opposite to those which carry the pinions are provided with a series of double pulleys, 0 0, that are alternately of large and small diameter, though the difference in diameter is no more thanis found necessary in practice to maintain the rolls of the machine at substantially the same rate of speed toward each other as advance is made toward the rear or delivery end of the machine. Suitable pulley-bands, D D, con nectthe pulleys of one set of rolls with those of contiguous sets of unlike diameter, and so it follows that if the large pulley of the set at the entrance of the machine be connected by band to the small pulley of the next set, and so on in alternation, a gradual increase in speed of rota.- tion will result, which tends to compensate for any slipping of the bands upon the pulleys, or for any resistance met in revolution by the rolls, so that the rolls of each set will have substantially the same speed as advance is made toward the rear end of the machine.

Transverse inclined guides D D extend in front of and converge toward the rolls of each set, these guides being fixed with their edges in the sides of the frames A A and are of such width as will give direction to the passing feathers toward the bite of the rolls without side of a grinding or pithing machine, with a suitable connecting-board between them, so

that the feathers with the pith removed may pass directly forward from the grinder into the assorting-machine.

In assorting feathers having a split quill,as above indicated, the rolls in each set of the assorter are adjusted so as to be nearly or quite in contact with each other, and being preferably of a smooth steel face, it follows that the feathers passing between them are rendered more flexible and take on a more polished finish than would otherwise be possible. The rolls being thus adjusted and the'machineset in motion, the feathers are presented point first to the bite of the first or forward set of rolls, and being caught therein are advanced by the revolution of the rolls through the machine and toward the second set, the inclined guides tending to direct the feathers into the bite of the rolls, and so in the end to still further advance the feathers along the machine. If any of the feathers are so short as to fail of spanning the space from bite to bite of the rolls, such feather, on leaving the first set of rolls, falls freely from the plane of feed into a suitable receptacle, F F, beneath, while the rem aining feathers continue toward the end of the machine. Inasmuch as the sets of rolls are mounted at gradually increasing distances apart, it follows that the shorter feathers will be continually dropping out as they advance through the machine, and that in the end the several bins or receptacles will contain only such feathers as are of approximately the same length. If, for example, the distance between the first and second set of rolls be eight inches, that between the second and third set eight and a half inches, and so on at regular increase of a half inch in distance between succeeding sets of rolls, the feathers in the first bin will be eight inches or less in length, in the second bin between eight and eight and a half inches, and so on in gradual increase according to the number of the sets of rolls. Instead of having the distances between sets to increase at a uniform rate, this may be irregular and adapted to the needs of the special business in which the assorter is employed.

If it is desired to assortostrich or other like feathers in which the stiffness of the quill is to be preserved unimpaired, the rolls of the machine should be clothed with a jacket, 01 d, of soft rubber, orof several thicknesses of canton-flannel or like yielding material, and the adjustment between the rolls be such as to allow the feathers to be fed forward without any severe compression thereon.

For assortingpasteboard strips, wooden lath, or other material suit-ably stifl' to pass horizontally from bite .to bite of the rolls, the machine as above described may be readily employed, it being simply necessary to adapt its adjustments and the sizes of the several'parts of the machines to the work in view.

For assortin g bristles I prefer to use a modified form of machine, as shown in Fig. 4. The rolls B B, which constitute aset in this form of machine, are not arranged directly one above the other; but the upper roll, B, is fixed a little forward of the lower, B, so that the bristle which, being fed point first, has a tendency to turn upward from the plane of feed will meet the inclined guide and be advanced by contact with the surface of the upper revolving roll into the bite of the rolls. The lower 'guideplates being dispensed with allows the bristles to fall freely into the trays T, arranged to receive them, when, as before described, the bristles fail to span the distance between one set of rolls and the set next in front.

The trays are made with inclined bottoms t to accommodate the difference in size between the point and butt of the bristle, so that the bristles will lie evenly in the tray and allow for convenient bunching. For this latter purpose a longitudinal slot, 8, is cut in the traybottom to allow for the passage of a needle and thread on either side of the loose bristles in the tray, and so in the end to securely tie the the same in bunches.

The trays are supported on cleats in compart ments arranged beneath the rolls of the machine, and a number of trays may, for convenience in use, be kept in each compartment.

To avoid all risk of the bristles being clogged or arrested at any point during passage through the machine, the side pieces in which the rolls are sustained are reamed out at 70, so as to admit the ends of the rolls, as shown in Fig. 5, to some distance within the surface. The spaces between the contiguous edges of the rectangular frames are fitted with strips Z l, of metal, rubber, or the like, and flush with the inner face of the frames, and the whole of this latter should be polished to diminish as much as may be any tendency of the bristles to be caught or bent out of course.

It is obvious that this modified form of machine may be used with equal success to assort feathers and other material, as well as bristles, the offset relation of the rolls causing the feathers, 850., to be upturned from the plane of feed, so that the lower guide-plates are dispensed with, as heretofore set forth. When used for anything but bristles the special form of tray described becomes unnecessary.

For successful operation the rolls need to revolve at a speed which will advance the material through the machine as rapidly as the same can be fed in successive portions at the front.

When asserting bristles the feed-rolls have a diameter of one-half inch, or thereabout, whence it is desirable to provide the drive-pulleys with grooved rims v v to more certainly retain the bands, (see Fig. 5,)a precaution which is not so necessary when feathers are passing, and which require a roll of some two inches diameter.

Instead of having the rectangular frames adjustable to and from each other, as heretofore described, or in addition to such adjustment, one of the rolls of each set may be provided with an adjustable bearing, 2, (see Fig. 3,) of

the ordinary kind, to allow for still further correction of inequalities or greater nicety in degree of separation of the rolls.

The machine can be readily arranged to per- 5 mit the substitution of one set of rolls for another of difi'erent diameter, and to allow for mounting the sets at nearer or greater distances apart, as may be desired.

Instead of having the rolls of a set geared 10 together by pinion-wheels, these latter maybe dispensed with, and that series of rolls which is without the pulleys be free to revolve by the simple friction contact of the others or of the material passing through the machine, al- 15 though the positive rotation of both rolls of the set is preferred in practice.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s 2o 1. An assorting-machine providedwith sets of feed-rolls arranged at varying distances apart, substantially as described.

2. In an ass0rting-machine,thecombination, with the sets of feed-rolls arranged at increasin g distances apart, of the inclined guides, sub- 2 stantially as hereinbefore set forth.

3. In an assorting-machine, the combination, with the series of lower feed-rolls, of the series of upper feed-rolls, set somewhat in advance thereof, and a series of inclined guides, substan- 3o tially as described.

4. In an asserting-machine, a tray or receptacle having an inclined bottom and a longitudinal slot therein, as described.

In witness hereof, subscribed by me this 27th 3 5 day of December, A. D. 1881.

SAMUEL M. PARK.

Witnesses:

JAMES H. PEIRCE, JNO. G. ELLIOTT. 

